Fixed-cellular phone project postponed<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The decline of foreign creditors' trust in
\nIndonesian banking after the disclosure of fraud at Bapindo has
\nforced a company to delay the establishment of a fixed cellular
\ntelephone project.<\/p>\n
"Foreign banks are now very cautious in handling Indonesian
\nletters of credit (L\/C) and we, therefore, have to delay the
\nlaunching of our telephone project until the end of this year,"
\nan executive of the Bakrie Group, Hardianto Kamarga, told
\nreporters here yesterday.<\/p>\n
PT Radio Telephone Indonesia (Ratelindo) originally planned to
\nintroduce cellular digital radio telephones (CDRL), the first of
\ntheir kind to be built in the country, in early August. Ratelindo
\nis a joint venture between Bakrie Group and the state-owned
\ndomestic telecommunications company PT Telcom.<\/p>\n
Foreign banks apparently became very cautious after executives
\nof the state-owned bank Bapindo and the Golden Key Group were
\nfound guilty of being involved in credit fraud. The fraud
\ninvolved a usance L\/C which was illegally changed into a red-
\nclause L\/C, causing the government to suffer total losses of
\nUS$448 million.<\/p>\n
Hardianto, president of Bakrie Electronics Company (BEC), said
\nyesterday that the first phase of the company's project will be
\nlaunched in December. BEC is a Bakrie Group subsidiary which
\ncontrols a 55-percent stake in Ratelindo.<\/p>\n
"We will install some 5,000 lines by December and expect to
\ninstall 45,000 more lines by April 1995," he said.<\/p>\n
He explained that Ratelindo will install a total of 280,000
\nlines in Jakarta and West Java within the next three years.<\/p>\n
US$80 million<\/p>\n
Hardianto also said that the project, which will utilize a
\ndigital advance mobile phone system (AMPS), will cost US$80
\nmillion.<\/p>\n
"We have installed seven cell-sides thus far," he said. "The
\nnumber of cell-sides will increase to 50 units next year."<\/p>\n
He said the project will have a center for wireless telephone
\nexchange (WTX) at Wisma Bakrie on Jl. Kuningan in South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Ratelindo, which is 45 percent owned by Telkom, is supported
\nby Hughes Network System (HNS), a subsidiary of Hughes Aircraft
\nof the United States. HNS will supply a high-capacity fixed
\nwireless digital telephone systems to subscribers.<\/p>\n
Hardianto said PTT Telecom BV of the Netherlands, which
\ncontrols a 30-percent stake in Bakrie Electronics Company, will
\nalso support the telecommunications project.<\/p>\n
He said that PTT acquired the 30-percent stake at $90 million
\nin February after two years of negotiations.(icn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/fixed-cellular-phone-project-postponed-1447893297",
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